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Focus: Roaring back

The Celtic tiger has woken from its slumber with a series of economists predicting a return to the growth rates of the late 1990s heyday. Why is Ireland booming again and are there any traps awaiting us? Frank Fitzgibbon and Jane Suiter investigate

It looks amazing, features Formula One styling and does 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds. Costing €600,000 plus, it can travel at more than 200mph and is one of the world’s finest supercars, or a “21st century Turismo” as its manufacturers would have it.

For some extremely wealthy Irish people the new Mercedes SLR is set to be the runaround of choice. MDL, the distributors of Mercedes in Ireland, has received at least three orders. One of the 5.5 litre V8 cars is in the country, a second will follow soon and a third in 2005.

Despite the price tag, these fortunate few are not the first to spend twice the average price of a house on a car. Last year about a dozen Irish people showed significant interest in the new Mercedes Maybach, a €500,000-plus super limousine.